17th May 2017 May Blog: Don’t get virtual advice, get REAL advice.

We came across a landlord recently – not one of ours I hasten to add – that had been holding out to maximise their rent and refusing to negotiate on a (very high) asking price. Now in some cases this might work and if you pitch high you just might achieve high but the problem in this instance was that she’d been doing this since October 2016 and I’m writing this at the beginning of May so that’s five months of rent that has gone down the Swanee. The landlord called us in to re-appraise her situation but she was adamant (because she was experienced in these things) that her price was right and that she didn’t need help beyond an applicant introduction. Casually we asked if she’d got an EPC. ‘What’s that?’ she replied . . .

There’s a moral here somewhere but essentially the point is that if you call in trusted advisors, use their advice. This particular landlord had lost nearly half a year’s income for the sake of lowering her aspirations a little to what was a true market level and if she’d done that by calling in a local expert at the start, rather than relying on a computer logarithm for advice, she would be sitting pretty by now. On top of that she’d be complying with all the increasingly complex legislation that landlords have to abide by these days. As it stands she’s substantially out of pocket, her annual yield has virtually evaporated and she’s potentially facing a hefty fine for assuming, because she’d apparently let a few flats before, she knew it all.

We are professionals, we know what we are doing. Over half the staff in the office have worked in the area for over a decade so we know the properties (many we’ve seen several times) and above all we know prices. We spend several hours every week keeping up with legislation requirements of both the industry and on behalf of our clients and I can tell you it’s a mountain of work that you would not want to start on without some dedication! All our staff are formally qualified or on the road to being so. We believe that knowledge breeds confidence in our staff and gives confidence in us to our clients and we are deeply committed to that education and in turn to industry regulation which recognises that commitment.

We are there to help you. So take advantage of our skillset and genuine advice: